So… we spent the weekend getting ready for and actually moving the boat to our new slip “on the salt”–that is out on the ocean instead of in the canal. This was a lot more work and horror than one might expect. As with any other move, everything takes longer and is much worse than expected, even when you are moving the whole home, not just the contents.

First the engine–which hasn’t had a serious run-up in a while–had to be checked and all systems associated with moving the boat had to be found to be OK or made that way. Bit of a pain in the ass, but it’s Mr. Kat’s job, so I let him to it. It didn’t go entirely smoothly….

Because I have a ton of books and papers and so does Mr. Kat, we had first to pack those up so they wouldn’t fly around in a storm of loose shit if our passage of 2+ nautical miles was less than perfectly smooth. it turned out we had one giant trash-compactor bag full of books to donate, plus two Rubbermade storage boxes worth of books and papers to store or save, plus another trash compactor bag worth of paperwork, manuscripts, books, postcards and miscellaneous Kat Stuff that had to be put where I can get at it first thing tomorrow. But once packed, what does one do with the boxes so one doesn’t fall on them?

Stow it in the bunk!
Yes, there’s an anchor and a motorcycle helmet bag in that pile along with a hell of a lot of other stuff.

But the boat moved to the new slip with flying colors, if a bit later than hoped. The cable tech who came to hook us up to our new service location tried to show up at a quarter of one, but while he was at the dock, we weren’t and I had to turn him away. Luckily, he was nice enough to agree to come back later and do the job–which is necessary since Mr. Kat’s job requires instant, fast, stable Internet access 24/7. And he was on-call this weekend.

So, about 1 o’clock we headed for the Ballard Locks–which were operating on the large lock only. Mr Kat made a perfect un-docking maneuver (with a small assist from our dock neighbor Tom) and we were off to the locks. Our timing couldn’t have been better as the lock was just releasing a new load of boats onto our side of the dam, so we got in the line of other boats and were herded into the big cement waterway along with about two dozen other vessels of various sizes, where we rafted up with another sailboat and a small motor dinghy. The lock through was uneventful and totally successful. And our raft-up neighbors were really nice.

As we motored out of the lock and began to look for the landmarks that would show us the new marina from the water-side (and they look so much different from the water than from the land) a gust of wind snatched our chart. But I was able to grab it as it flew past and mark the bouys and breakwater markers. In just a few minutes we were motoring up the channel to our new home. No screaming or bloodshed occurred during this cruise, which is amazing for us, and a near–perfect docking was accomplished by Mr. Kat along with the help of a new dock neighbor and myself. We were really rocking after the initial “oh… damn” of packing and setting off.

I called the cable guy and said we’d be at our dock in twenty minutes. And we were! We tied off, cleaned up a little, set my laptop up and then I walked up to let the man in and Voila! umm… no… Yreka! erg… well, you know what I mean. By 2:30 we had our internet up and running, our electricity restored and ferrets on deck as Mr. Kat cleaned up and located his computer equipment.

Doesn’t Windwalker look happy here?

Then we grabbed a bite to eat at Little Coney–where the fish and chips is fantastic!–ran a few errands and now we are relaxing with Tecate and Lime. And looking at the horrific mess that is all over the galley counter and bunk. I think we’ll be calling for pizza while we enjoy the view from our cockpit….

It’s a 35′ sailboat–it’s on the small side. And I’m not at all organized. I’m just… oblivious. 😉

Apparently Comcast in our area now has a “fast connection” protocol if you are moving within the same service area, so we were able to have our cable up pretty much instantly, once the technician waved his magic fingers at the computer so the cable router knew where we were. Amazing considering that the last time we moved–20 feet–they disconnected us, canceled the old service so we lost our email addresses, and then made us wait for five days to get reconnected.

Greetings,
Glad to read and see your move went well.
I am still trying to finish reading Greywalker, so that I can go
on to Poltergeist; so that i can get to Underground.
I read that there are/were postcards for Underground, how
can i snag one ? Thankx valerie